THE landlady of a much-loved Milford Haven pub, which was submerged under six foot of dirty flood water last week, says this has been the worst year of her life.
Glenda German, who runs the Priory Inn, has been staying with family since rapidly rising water levels forced her from her home on Thursday.
The entire ground floor of the Grade II-listed building, which just a week ago was a cosy inviting place for locals to enjoy a pint, has been virtually destroyed.
A pungent, damp smell fills the building, electrical sockets hang from the walls, and muddy tide marks cover furniture and personal possessions – in some places almost up to the ceiling.
“It's just devastating – my whole life is here,” said Glenda.
“It's frightening, sickening, and lonely. I just feel empty.”
“There was water right up to the ceiling - every single thing has to be replaced.”
Four months ago, Glenda’s partner Andrew ‘Bassie’ Barret died, aged 56.
“We did this pub together, an amazing pub, and I've been left on my own,” said Glenda.
“It's horrendous, it's horrible, it's the worst feeling in the whole wide world, and I didn't think I could feel any worse than I did a few months ago.
“When it flooded before it was always me and him, we did it together – you support each other.
“I've been throwing things away that have meant something to me, trinkets that Bassie had around the place.”
Friends, family and customers have rallied round to help Glenda – starting with rescuing her from the floodwater on Thursday night.
On Monday the clean-up began in earnest, with pals mucking in to mop up the worst of the mess.
Speaking on Tuesday, Dan Morgan said: “If you'd have seen it yesterday morning it was horrendous, all the furniture was on top of each other, you had to climb over it.
“It’s total devastation.”
These toilets had not long been refurbished. PICTURE: Ellie Wainwright
Barman Steve Morgan first saw the rising water when he came into work on Wednesday.
“We managed to get everything up on to the bar and the pool table and then it came in and didn't stop,” he said.
Glenda said she is incredibly grateful to have so many people around her but remains angry and frustrated that more was not done to avoid the situation.
“Somebody has to be blamed for this,” she said. “What happens next time? It's not fair.”
The area has flooded several times in recent years, but at its worst only reached a depth of three feet.
An aerial view of the flooding at its worst last weekend. PICTURE: Airworks Aerial Photography
Glenda believes the development of the Cedar Court and Haven’s Head retail park sites have exacerbated the problem, causing a build-up of water in the Priory area.
“It only started flooding when they built Tesco,” said Glenda. “From what people have been saying the pipes aren't big enough to sustain the amount of water coming out.”
The Port of Milford Haven, which owns both sites, has refuted this, saying it monitors the culvert system that takes water from Hubberston and Goose Pills on a monthly basis.
Tim Bownes, engineering director at the Port, said: “The flooding was not caused by any failure by us to act.
“It was caused by the unfortunate combination of two days of heavy rainfall and extremely high tides.
“It should be noted that, in the event of such high tides combined with storm surges - sea waters rose up to half a metre above predicted tides on the day in question - the dock actually acts as a barrier to prevent tidal flooding in both Goose and Hubberston Pills.”
A spokesman for Pembrokeshire County Council said: “An officer from Pembrokeshire County Council’s area maintenance team met with the landlady at the Lower Priory Inn on Tuesday.
“Council officers also visited the site on Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday, providing advice and support where possible, including extra waste collections for those uninsured, building and housing assistance and cleaning advice from Environmental Health.”
She added: “We are continuing to monitor the situation and provide assistance where we can, linking with voluntary agencies for signposting to services.
“A review with multi agency partners will be taking place on the circumstances which led to the flooding.”
PICTURE: Ellie Wainwright
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